Scientists are one step closer to developing personalized treatments for cancer. Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer center have carried out the first complete genomic sequencing of a brain cancer cell line. This development may lead to treatments that are based on a patient’s unique biological makeup and lead to the development of more effective and less toxic drugs.

By knowing the mutations driving a cancer’s growth, clinicians would be able to choose therapies best suited to attack the specific structure of the disease. The study may also lead to new ways to monitor for brain cancer and allow for earlier diagnosis, preventing overtreatment that could later cause debilitating health problems.

The genomic sequencing was completed in less than a month and cost about $35,000, compared to the sequencing of the human genome, which took years and cost more than $1 billion.

The sequencing was performed on a glioblastoma cell line called U87, which has been studied in more than 1,000 laboratories worldwide. The sequencing exposed virtually all-potential cancer-causing mutations that may have led to the glioblastoma’s development, researchers say.

Stan Nelson, M.D., professor of human genetics at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and senior author of the study, and his team of scientists have launched a website for researchers to access the sequencing data to use for their own experiments. They are also planning to sequence other cancer cell lines in hopes that they will soon be able to sequence a patient’s individual cancer and give oncologists information needed to make immediate treatment decisions.